Journal Article

Diverse somatic mutation patterns and pathway alterations in human cancers

Modrusan, Zora, Seshagiri, Somasekar, Faham, Malek, Tomsho, Lynn P., Bhatt, Deepali, Yuan, Wenlin, Davis, David P., Waring, Paul, Jaiswal, Bijay S., Peters, Brock A., Eigenbrot, Charles, Li, Li, Chaudhuri, Subhra, de Sauvage, Frederic J., Zhang, Zemin, Pujara, Kanan, Cordes, Shaun, Kan, Zhengyan, Yue, Peng, Stinson, Jeremy, Haverty, Peter M., Stern, Howard M., Kaminker, Joshua S., Schuster, Stephan C., Moorhead, Martin, Wang, Weiru, Eberhard, David A., Bourgon, Richard, Zheng, Jianbiao, Janakiraman, Vasantharajan, Carlton, Victoria E. H., Stokoe, David

2010

Overview

Cancer-linked mutations A large-scale genetic analysis of more than 400 breast, lung, ovarian and prostate cancer samples has identified thousands of cancer-related mutations. Kan et al . analysed DNA from cancer patients and identified 2,576 somatic mutations across 1,507 coding genes. Of these, 77 are thought to be significantly mutated, implying possible pathogenic roles for protein kinases, G protein-coupled receptors and other potential therapeutic targets. These authors performed a large-scale study in which they identified 2,576 somatic mutations across 1,507 coding genes from 441 breast, lung, ovarian and prostate cancer types and subtypes. The study provides an overview of the mutational spectra across major human cancers, implies an expanded role for Gα subunits in multiple cancer types and identifies several potential therapeutic targets. The systematic characterization of somatic mutations in cancer genomes is essential for understanding the disease and for developing targeted therapeutics 1 . Here we report the identification of 2,576 somatic mutations across ∼1,800 megabases of DNA representing 1,507 coding genes from 441 tumours comprising breast, lung, ovarian and prostate cancer types and subtypes. We found that mutation rates and the sets of mutated genes varied substantially across tumour types and subtypes. Statistical analysis identified 77 significantly mutated genes including protein kinases, G-protein-coupled receptors such as GRM8 , BAI3 , AGTRL1 (also called APLNR ) and LPHN3 , and other druggable targets. Integrated analysis of somatic mutations and copy number alterations identified another 35 significantly altered genes including GNAS , indicating an expanded role for gα subunits in multiple cancer types. Furthermore, our experimental analyses demonstrate the functional roles of mutant GNAO1 (a Gα subunit) and mutant MAP2K4 (a member of the JNK signalling pathway) in oncogenesis. Our study provides an overview of the mutational spectra across major human cancers and identifies several potential therapeutic targets.

• Publisher: Nature Publishing Group UK,Nature Publishing Group
• Subject: 631/208/212 / 631/208/737 / 631/80/86 / 692/699/67 / Biological and medical sciences / Breast Neoplasms - classification / Breast Neoplasms - genetics / Cancer / Carcinogenesis, carcinogens and anticarcinogens / Care and treatment / Cellular signal transduction / Deoxyribonucleic acid / DNA / DNA Copy Number Variations - genetics / DNA Mutational Analysis / Female / Gene mutations / General aspects / Genes, Neoplasm - genetics / Genetic aspects / GTP-Binding Protein alpha Subunits - genetics / Health aspects / Humanities and Social Sciences / Humans / letter / Lung Neoplasms - classification / Lung Neoplasms - genetics / Male / MAP Kinase Kinase 4 - genetics / Mass spectrometry / Medical sciences / multidisciplinary / Mutation / Mutation - genetics / Neoplasms - enzymology / Neoplasms - genetics / Neoplasms - metabolism / Neoplasms - pathology / Ovarian Neoplasms - classification / Ovarian Neoplasms - genetics / Physiological aspects / Prostate cancer / Prostatic Neoplasms - classification / Prostatic Neoplasms - genetics / Protein kinases / Protein Kinases - genetics / Receptors, G-Protein-Coupled - genetics / Science / Science (multidisciplinary) / Signal Transduction - genetics / Statistical analysis / Studies / Tumors